Longnor is a village in the Staffordshire Peak District, England. The
settlement dates from early times, the first recorded church building
being in the Middle Ages. The village was named Longenalre in the
Domesday Book. Located on a major crossroads, Longnor was a
significant market town in the 18th century. It lies on the north bank
of the River Manifold, on a limestone ridge between the Manifold and
the River Dove.[2]

Contents

1 Location and geography
2 Village description
3 History

3.1 Methodist history

4 Points of general interest
5 References

Location and geography[edit]
Longnor is situated on the B5053 main road from Cheadle to Buxton,
about 6 miles (10 km) south of Buxton. It is at a cross roads
with routes to Leek and Macclesfield to the west, and Bakewell to the
east.
West of Longnor are the Staffordshire Moorlands, with a summit at Axe
Edge Moor towards the north, and Morridge further south. North and
east of Longnor is the White Peak section of the Peak District, with
the Dove flowing in a steep-sided limestone valley of which the famous
Dovedale is a small part.
Longnor village looks towards the Manifold, but lies on the southern
slope of a limestone ridge between the two rivers.
Village description[edit]
Longnor is one of the more significant villages in this corner of
north Staffordshire, chiefly for the market.
Longnor is one of 13 parishes in the Deanery of Alstonefield,
Lichfield Diocese.[3]
History[edit]

St Bartholomew's Church

Records of the village's early history have been lost, but there is
evidence of activity in the area from around 700AD. Longnor is listed
in the Great Domesday Book of 1086 as Longenalre.[4] It is
distinguished from the other modern Longnor near Shrewsbury which is
in the Domesday Book as Lege. According to local legend the village
was burned during the reign of William II as a punishment for the
poaching of deer from the forests around Leek.[5]
The first written record cites the founding of St Bartholomew's Church
in 1223 on the site of the present 18th century parish church, and
over the next two centuries there were around 20 homes in the
village.[5][6]
The 1787 Cary map of Staffordshire shows the village on a major
crossroads.[7] Cary wrote the name LONGNOR rather than Longnor, a
style shared only with Leek and Cheadle in Staffordshire north of
Stafford and The Potteries. This implies that Longnor was then a
market town of some significance.
Methodist history[edit]
Built in 1780, the Methodist Chapel is one of the oldest in the
area.[8] John Wesley once preached at Longnor while passing through on
a journey from Sheffield. However Methodist preachers had established
a Methodist society before this in 1769. The fuller story of early
Methodism in Longnor is told by J. B. Dyson, along with a brief
biography of Mrs Cecily Ferguson who later was hostess to John Wesley
on his visit to Amsterdam.[9][10] In 1784, Longnor Methodist Society
had 42 members.[11]
In 1870, a new Methodist Circuit was created, and named the "Wetton
and Longnor Methodist Circuit". The manse was built at Wetton, along
with a new chapel building. But the importance of Longnor was also
recognised. The original Wetton and Longnor Circuit had been Wesleyan,
and in 1932 it took in some of the Primitive Methodist chapels in the
area. In 1969 the circuit was closed and its chapels assigned to
neighbouring circuits.[12]
The Methodist Chapel closed in the 1996,[13] but some of the former
members continued to meet for a while in a hired hall, because the
journey to Buxton Methodist Church was not practical.[14]
The village formed the basis of two paintings by L. S. Lowry, Longnor,
Derbyshire (1940)[15] and A Village Square (1943; now in Glasgow). He
wrote of the latter work:

I remember doing it quite well. It was based on a much earlier
painting of mine of Longnor, a village in Derbyshire [sic] which I did
about 40–45 years ago at least.

Points of general interest[edit]

Longnor village from the south-west

Some of the TV series Peak Practice was recorded here.[16]
The church of St. Bartholomew, Longnor has a contemporary
sculpture[17] of St. Bertram by British Frink School sculptor Harry
Everington.
The nearby Blakemere Pond is a body of water precariously perched upon
a hilltop, with scenic views across the Peak District and beyond in
two directions.
References[edit]